Ok guys. I have been looking at jobs and there are a couple positions open to sell cars. they say no experience is required. it's not a small dealership. they say potential first year earnings is 40-80k. i have a DEAD END physically demanding LOW PAYING job. so obviously i am interested. once i make money, i want to invest in other things but anyways.

i have a few questions for you guys who sell cars for a living(if there is any on boxden)

1. if i decide to go for this job and get it, what the heck did i just get myself into?
2. is there a base pay even if i dont sell cars? how much might it be if there is? i dont wanna have a slow month and oops im evicted or starving because of 0 income.
3. what kind of hours do you put in?

tell me the downsides, the upsides, anything i need to know before i venture into selling cars. that way i can find out if this job is right for me.

2. is there a base pay even if i dont sell cars? how much might it be if there is? i dont wanna have a slow month and oops im evicted or starving because of 0 income.

You would be fired.

Read this:

05-25-2012, 08:25 PM

online - #3

o7media18$15,611 |r POWERFUL

My brother used to for a while, he made a lot as long as he was selling...but of course during the slow times he didn't.

He's currently a service writer at another dealership, also on commission and the same thing goes for that.

There normally is a base pay, but it's very little. Like $1,000 a month.

05-25-2012, 09:44 PM

away - #4

Optimus Crime$5,392 |r POWERFUL

Originally Posted by 991

Ok guys. I have been looking at jobs and there are a couple positions open to sell cars. they say no experience is required. it's not a small dealership. they say potential first year earnings is 40-80k. i have a DEAD END physically demanding LOW PAYING job. so obviously i am interested. once i make money, i want to invest in other things but anyways.

i have a few questions for you guys who sell cars for a living(if there is any on boxden)

1. if i decide to go for this job and get it, what the heck did i just get myself into?
2. is there a base pay even if i dont sell cars? how much might it be if there is? i dont wanna have a slow month and oops im evicted or starving because of 0 income.
3. what kind of hours do you put in?

tell me the downsides, the upsides, anything i need to know before i venture into selling cars. that way i can find out if this job is right for me.

I did it for a year. This was our pay plan...

We made 1500 a month base pay (called a draw). You got it as long as you were employed. You got payed our draw on the 1st and 15th.

With regards to commission... You got a minimum amount for each car sold. At my dealership it was $200 per Chevy, Buick and GMC and $350 for every Cadillac. These were called minis. If your sale made more than $800 gross profit you get %25 percent. I had a friend gross $8000 on a deal... So he made $2000 just on that car deal only. They subtracted the 1500 draw from how much your commission was... and payed the "extra" on the tenth... So it basically looked like this...

You sell 20 cars... You made at least $4000. You got paid $750 on the 1st of the next month, $2500 on the 10th of the next month and another $750 on the $15th of the next month.

I know of some big money cats that end up making $100k a year in the car business... But there are some that only make 20 or 30k. It's a hustle... and the harder your hustle (and the thinner your conscience) the more you made

As far as hours go... I worked from 9-7 Mon through Sat with one day off. Sundays off. On the last week of the month... No one got their days off. A dealership down the road was open 7-7 but their salesmen got to work in shifts. So a lot of it depends on your dealership. I know some of the bigger spots do a completely different pay plan... Where they give you a base pay... and then use a profit percentage scale to raise or lower your base pay accordingly.

Just know that when you walk into a car dealership... You're going to meet some nice folks... and some SNAKES. It's hard to survive in the car business unless you have some form of shady gene lol... In fact... The higher up you go... The more "skilled" the folks.. Because the best salesmen are the ones that get the promotions

Last edited by Optimus Crime; 05-25-2012 at 09:48 PM..

06-08-2012, 07:34 PM

away - #5

DwRecKeR77053$1,513 |r 2221520

Originally Posted by 991

Ok guys. I have been looking at jobs and there are a couple positions open to sell cars. they say no experience is required. it's not a small dealership. they say potential first year earnings is 40-80k. i have a DEAD END physically demanding LOW PAYING job. so obviously i am interested. once i make money, i want to invest in other things but anyways.

i have a few questions for you guys who sell cars for a living(if there is any on boxden)

1. if i decide to go for this job and get it, what the heck did i just get myself into?
2. is there a base pay even if i dont sell cars? how much might it be if there is? i dont wanna have a slow month and oops im evicted or starving because of 0 income.
3. what kind of hours do you put in?

tell me the downsides, the upsides, anything i need to know before i venture into selling cars. that way i can find out if this job is right for me.

I am going to tell you what I have experienced and by no means am I discouraging you. i rather you know and see things before walking in blind like i did.

1. low end dealerships hire all the time because of high turnover ratio. (what I mean by low end is american made and foreign vehicles cheaper then $40,000) more tire kickers than buyers unfortunately because they are the most affordable. you will have insane customers who will go to 3-5 stores in a day of the same manufacturer to get the best deal and spend a month or two going to 10 manufacturer dealerships trying to get a car at a certain price on the dot.

2. high end dealerships hire very rare and turnover ratio is alot lower. ($40,000+)

3. working at a low end car store, you will have alot more salesman working there, you have to sell more units than high end luxury cars, commission is also lower which is why you have to sell more. anywhere from 10-30 salesman. high end luxury stores keep less than 10 salesman.

4. if you choose to pursue it, you will need to learn the lingo.

gross= profit from car between invoice and msrp price
front/back end gross= front end is sales department profit back end is finance department profit. some stores have salesman who make front and back in gross profit on cars i.e. your profit plus profit on warranty, accessories etc sold in finance department before the car is delivered to the customer.
invoice= dealership cost for the car.

mini= minicommission ...this is paid to you when you do not make any gross on a car like being sold at invoice price. ($50-$200).

spiff= cash bonus paid to you for the day a sales manager or general manger picks the oldest car sitting on the lot to get rid and sold. GM's have to pay taxes for every car every month sitting on the lot, which is why the cars need to be sold as often as new inventory comes or the dealership loses money.

pack= inhouse money automatically taken out the sale of ever car before its sold. this is money is used to pay store expenses(water, lights, food, supplies, inventory, etc....)

pounders= 1=1,000 2=2,000 3=3.000 4=4,000 5=5,000 referred to a customers down payment...
ex. a salesman says they have a 10 pounder then they have a customer who is willing to put down 10 grand on a car to buy and the higher your commission will be on the car.

driveout= msrp plus tax title, licensing cost...... usually $1,500-$2,000 more than msrp or whatever the price the car is sold for..

upside down= a customer wants to trade their current vehicle for a new one. they owe more on the car than the car is worth..benefit to dealership and not customer. sometimes a customer may have to put money down on a new car if the trade in value applied to the cost of the car is not enough. in this case, more commission made on the car deal for you and no customer benefit..dealerships low ball every customer's trade in and they can get a better appraisal at a place like carmax. the difference is that sales staff at carmax are paid hourly and not commission so they make money less than a manufacturer dealership salesman

5. low end stores pay you a commission draw for 3 months(grace period) to start. most cases its between $1,000-$3,000 a month depending on the dealership. you do not get both salary and commission, but whichever is higher. if your store pays a $2,000 monthly draw and you do not sell more than $2,000 in commissions, they will pay you $1,000 before taxes every 2 weeks. after your grace period you are 100% commission and if you do not sell more than the draw you will be fired, regardless of what blood sweat and tears you put into the job. high end stores do not pay a draw salary..you are commissioned from day 1. (audi, mercedes, bmw, jaguar, porsche, ferrari, lamborghini, maserati, aston martin, etc).

5. new salesman are required to work bell to bell(open to close) for 5-6 days a week for the first month or two they are employed.

6. you are required to work every saturday of the weekend..no one has saturday off. you do not get holidays off either because most of corporate world is off on holidays and people are car shopping on holidays. only holiday dealerships are closed for is thanksgiving and christmas...you will be working on new years day easter, july 4, etc....typically work days is 10-12 hrs a day...not typical 8 hrs...closeout is last week of the month, you have no days off that week.

7. cars listed in the newspapers and over radio are the least wanted and that marketing is used to drive traffic to the dealership..usually its a manual base model car with manual locks or windows and you have to sell the customer a car on the lot whether its something they really want or not.

8. commission= 20-30% gross on car
if you sold a car with 2,000 gross profit above invoice price, you get 20-30% of that depending on that store and thats what you make on that car.
car sales is paid on volume- units sold
stores have different bonus brackets that you get.
ex. 10 cars= 200 bonus 15 cars= 400 bous 18 cars= 700 bonus...
this is added to your commission check in addition to your current commissions on cars. the key is to sell in volume. you make more money when you do..some stores give you a
company debit card for your commissions and bonuses for direct deposit.

9 downfall of car industry is internet..
customers can find out how much a car costs before coming to the store and will low ball you based on that price..internet price is usually a grand or maybe 2 grand more than invoice price but cheaper than msrp. if you come down off internet price you are taking money out of your pockets. most dealers will not sell a car cheaper than internet price...and sometimes you will lose customers because of that.. internet pricing is more benefit to the customer and less the salesperson.

10. if you cant sell a new car to a customer, you are required to sell them a preowned car verses letting them walk out of the door. the motto in car sales is "no customer walks, sell them something."

you have meetings every saturday about mostly b.s. and same stuff sometimes meetings every day before you start your shift.

11. customers not willing to fill out credit applications or take test drives before talking numbers are not the serious customers to spend alot of time with. managers will blow them out for you so that you can get another customer and sell them.

12. dealerships will not let customers test drive cars alone anymore due to lawsuits filed against them in the past by customers driving alone and getting into car accidents.

13. working at a car dealership, you have alot of downtime, the day is spent phone calling prospects to get them in the door if you are in the internet department or outside waiting for a customer to arrive and be sold if you are showroom floor sales.

14. very few salesman make over 70k a year at a dealership....usually 1 or 2 out of however many salesman total at a low end store. they are the superstars and will get away with murder.

15. if you cant close the deal on your own, a manager will send another salesman to close your deal for you and the commission is split regardless if they worked hard for the sale or not.

16. american stores tend to hire way too many sales staff like ford, chevy, dodge, buick, chrystler, cadillac, jeep..i would stay away from those..they have the largest dealerships..some toyota, honda, and nissan stores hire too many people as well but most of them dont...I would advice you work at a small store over a large store...you are very replaceable and they will make you aware of it. if you could get in at a mid range vehicle dealership, i would recommend that...(lexus, infiniti, acura, etc.) money is better, less sales staff, better clientel coming in the door, potential to advance is higher, and turnover is lower as well.

CAR SALES IS NOT FOR EVERYBODY..ONLY THE STRONG HEARTED SURVIVE AND I DONT NECESSARILY MEAN THE MOST COMMITTED EITHER..SOME SALESMAN WILL STEAL SALES FROM YOU WHEN YOU ARE OFF FROM WORK OR WHILE YOU ARE THERE IF YOU ARE NOT OBSERVANT OF EVERYTHING. YOU WILL HAVE TEMPTATIONS TO QUIT AND TAKE THINGS PERSONALLY, LORD KNOWS I DID. IT CAN BE VERY REWARDING AS WELL IF YOU STICK WITH IT AND GROW A PASSION FOR IT..I HAVE SOLD TOYOTAS AND HYUNDAIS BEFORE...TOYOTAS SELL MORE THAN HYUNDAIS SO COMMISSIONS ARE LOWER ON THOSE VERSUS HYUNDAIS. IF YOUR STORE DOESNT HAVE UNIFORM SHIRTS TO WEAR THEN YOU WILL HAVE TO DRESS PROFESSIONAL EVERYDAY...BUTTON UP COLLAR SHIRT, TIE, SLACKS, AND DRESS SHOES...YOU ARE STRONGLY ENCOURAGED TO KEEP YOUR SHOES SHINED BECAUSE CUSTOMERS BASED THEIR BUYING DECISION ON A SALESMAN'S APPEARANCE. NO EARRINGS, VISIBLE TATTOOS, ETC. YOU WILL HAVE A DRUG TEST AND BACKGROUND CHECK RAN BEFORE BEING HIRED! BE PREPARED TO HAVE CUSTOMER NO SHOWS, WALK OUT ON YOU WHILE YOU ARE IN THE MIDDLE OF PUTTING A CAR DEAL TOGETHER, RACIST CUSTOMERS WHO WILL SEE YOU FIRST AND TURN AROUND AND BUY A CAR FROM SOMEONE ELSE AT YOUR STORE, RUDE CUSTOMERS WHO WILL CURSE YOU OUT. ITS PART OF CAR BUSINESS!

AT MY STORE THE WHITES, BLACKS, AND HISPANICS DID NOT DEAL WITH INDIAN AND ASIAN CUSTOMERS BECAUSE THEY ARE THE WORST LOW BALLERS...WE USE TO CALL THEM "TOO HIGHS" BECAUSE THATS WHAT THEY WOULD SAY AFTER YOU FIND THE CAR WITH EVERYTHING THEY WANT IN IT, BUT THEY DONT WANT A BASE MODEL CAR. THEY WANT A FULLY LOADED CAR FOR A BASE MODEL PRICE LOL!!! IT HAPPENS ALL THE TIME. THE ASIAN SALESMAN AT MY STORE TOOK ALL THE ASIAN CUSTOMERS SINCE HE SPOKE VIETNAMESE, JAPANESE, AND CHINESE. THE CUSTOMERS WOULD BYPASS US AND GO TO DUY TO TALK TO HIM ABOUT BUYING A CAR. IT USE TO DRIVE ME CRAZY AND WHEN I WORKED THERE LONG ENOUGH, I KNEW WHY AND REALIZED IT WAS ONLY A HEADACHE FOR ME. THE BEST DEALS ARE ALWAYS MSRP DEALS, I CAN REMEMBER SELLING A RAV4 AT 24,000 MSRP AND MAKING 800 COMMISSION FROM IT AS WELL AS AN AVALON LIMITED(FULLY LOADED) AT 39,000 AND MAKING $1350 COMMISSION..AS FAR AS HYUNDAI I HAVE SOLD LIMITED SONATAS MAKING $700 COMMISSION, FULLY LOADED ELANTRAS FOR $500, AND SANTA FE'S FOR $800

*******HOPEFULLY THIS HELPS ...IF YOU HAVE ANY MORE CONCERNS THEN SEND ME PRIVATE MESSAGE AND I WILL GET BACK AT YOU********

Last edited by DwRecKeR77053; 06-08-2012 at 08:29 PM..

06-13-2012, 07:28 PM

away - #6

egotistical$6,797 |r POWERFUL

If you don't have a friendly appearance don't even apply. The key to being good at selling car is being having a very approachable appearance, being very knowledge about the product, lastly being able to manipulate people, and being very down to earth (you should be able to relate with people and make them feel like your not even selling them a product).

Everything DwRecKeR77053 said is on point. Acura/Infiniti is probably the best especially with the recession (great price point, great features, they sell themselves basically). Also you weed out most of the people, who aren't about sh*t. When you go into any sales ALWAYS LOOK AT THE MAKE UP OF THE WHOLE COMPANY (what resources do they have, how good is there product, how do they stand out). If you fall in love with the product it makes it 100 times easier to sell.

06-16-2012, 12:43 PM

away - #7

DwRecKeR77053$1,513 |r 2221520

Originally Posted by egotistical

If you don't have a friendly appearance don't even apply. The key to being good at selling car is being having a very approachable appearance, being very knowledge about the product, lastly being able to manipulate people, and being very down to earth (you should be able to relate with people and make them feel like your not even selling them a product).

Everything DwRecKeR77053 said is on point. Acura/Infiniti is probably the best especially with the recession (great price point, great features, they sell themselves basically). Also you weed out most of the people, who aren't about sh*t. When you go into any sales ALWAYS LOOK AT THE MAKE UP OF THE WHOLE COMPANY (what resources do they have, how good is there product, how do they stand out). If you fall in love with the product it makes it 100 times easier to sell.

yes i agree..you have to believe in what you sell...i sold hyundais but i would never buy one lol and nobody at that dealership own one either. the top salesman(black guy) owned a sts cadillac lol. the general manager would drive a sonata, azera, or genesis from work to home until it had about 200 miles and put it on the showroom floor as a demo car to be sold. but he personally owned an audi a6. basically, the warranty sells hyundais (10yrs/100k miles), although elantras and sonatas are more fuel efficient than the competitors in their class. on the other hand, i sold toyotas and i would purchase one over a hyundai. they are very good cars all around. you really need the passion to sell a particular brand. sometimes i would ask myself what am i doing here and i dont even like hyundais lol. they hired me on the spot. the general manager said he saw me as a car salesman and wanted me to work there. i remember a black couple who was interested in a genesis sedan and they just left a bmw store test driving a 528i. i took them on a test drive and while on it the couple asked me what would i choose between the hyundai and the bmw lol. it was hilarious. the wife wanted the 528i and the husband wanted the genesis. they were both impressed with the genesis, but the wife really wanted that bimmer. the genesis had alot more features included that were not on the 528i. the genesis was priced at $42k and the 528i was $54k..needless to say they didnt buy either one, but they gave me a referral who bought a sonata limited for $31k..that commission was lovely lol. if i ever sold cars again, i would sell benzes.

Last edited by DwRecKeR77053; 06-19-2012 at 03:10 PM..

06-18-2012, 03:01 AM

away - #8

egotistical$6,797 |r POWERFUL

Originally Posted by DwRecKeR77053

yes i agree..you have to believe in what you sell...i sold hyundais but i would never buy one lol and nobody at that dealership own one either. the top salesman(black guy) owned a sts cadillac lol. the general manager would drive a sonata, azera, or genesis from work to home until it had about 200 miles and put it on the showroom floor as a demo car to be sold. but he personally owned an audi a6. basically, the warranty sells hyundais (10yrs/100k miles), although elantras and sonatas are more fuel efficient that the competitive in their class. on the other hand, i sold toyotas and i would purchase one over a hyundai. they are very good cars all around. you really need the passion to sell a particular brand. sometimes i would ask myself what am i doing here and i dont even like hyundais lol. they hired me on the spot. the general manager said he saw me as a car salesman and wanted me to work there. i remember a black couple who was interested in a genesis sedan and they just left a bmw store test driving a 528i. i took them on a test drive and while on it the couple asked me what would i choose between the hyundai and the bmw lol. it was hilarious. the wife wanted the 528i and the husband wanted the genesis. they were both impressed with the genesis, but the wife really wanted that bimmer. the genesis had alot more features included that were not on the 528i. the genesis was priced at $42k and the 528i was $54k..needless to say they didnt buy either one, but they gave me a referral who bought a sonata limited for $31k..that commission was lovely lol. if i ever sold cars again, i would sell benzes.

How did you do as a salesmen? What tips did you use to get most of your customers to buy? What would you say is the most important thing to know?

06-18-2012, 05:26 PM

away - #9

DwRecKeR77053$1,513 |r 2221520

Originally Posted by egotistical

How did you do as a salesmen? What tips did you use to get most of your customers to buy? What would you say is the most important thing to know?

well i use to tell customers that i was new so they would feel less likely to be pressure sold and it worked since i look alot younger than my age LOL. You have to have a personality and relate to people otherwise they wont buy anything from you.. dont be talking price until you sit down with them after the test drive. get them thinking about stuff during the test drive other than them thinking can i afford this car? hold a conversation with them in the car like if they have kids or something, what kind if work you do, etc...get them talking about themselves...people love to talk about themselves. if you sound monotone then the customer will just leave before a test drive or as soon as they get out the car from a test drive and ask for your business card. find the most important thing they want on a car and talk about that in a personal way with them and they will be willing to buy from you. do something to go out of your way like get them some water to drink or coffee or snack without them paying for it. take them somewhere in a least crowded area and do a walkaround demo..i use to take customers to a dead end circle and let them do donuts before the highway drive and let them move stuff around the car to get hands on..the sales managers advised us to drive half way anfd then let them drive back but customers are so antsy getting in a new car, that they cant wait to drive. i would drive the car out of the lot down the dead end road behind the dealership, get out and do a walkaround and let them get in the car to drive the whole way and they loved it. i also would let them go which ways they wanted instead of the advised test drive route. there have ben times that the customers and i were gone from the dealership for 45 minutes to an hour and the customers didnt intend on buying a car, to buy one. i wasnt like the other salesman who were bougie and judgmental..i had alot of young buyers because i was the youngest salesman and the older guys didnt talk to young guys and girls because supposely we are portrayed as tire kickers and our parents have to buy us cars instead of ourselves..i was the top seller out of salesman my age and overall in the top 5 salesman. i became tired of the long hours and 7 day work weeks so i decided to leave car business. i have seen several others who were successful in car business to leave and start another career. they just like i was not looking to make it a long term career, despite the fact that some days i did leave with hundreds of dollars in cash money for a car or two sold the same day. im just not the type of person to not have balance work and personal life. when you sell cars you are committing most of your life to it whether you are single or married with kids. you will make alot of sacrifices in that business if you want to be successful including family.

Last edited by DwRecKeR77053; 06-18-2012 at 05:36 PM..

06-18-2012, 10:56 PM

away - #10

egotistical$6,797 |r POWERFUL

Originally Posted by DwRecKeR77053

well i use to tell customers that i was new so they would feel less likely to be pressure sold and it worked since i look alot younger than my age LOL. You have to have a personality and relate to people otherwise they wont buy anything from you.. dont be talking price until you sit down with them after the test drive. get them thinking about stuff during the test drive other than them thinking can i afford this car? hold a conversation with them in the car like if they have kids or something, what kind if work you do, etc...get them talking about themselves...people love to talk about themselves. if you sound monotone then the customer will just leave before a test drive or as soon as they get out the car from a test drive and ask for your business card. find the most important thing they want on a car and talk about that in a personal way with them and they will be willing to buy from you. do something to go out of your way like get them some water to drink or coffee or snack without them paying for it. take them somewhere in a least crowded area and do a walkaround demo..i use to take customers to a dead end circle and let them do donuts before the highway drive and let them move stuff around the car to get hands on..the sales managers advised us to drive half way anfd then let them drive back but customers are so antsy getting in a new car, that they cant wait to drive. i would drive the car out of the lot down the dead end road behind the dealership, get out and do a walkaround and let them get in the car to drive the whole way and they loved it. i also would let them go which ways they wanted instead of the advised test drive route. there have ben times that the customers and i were gone from the dealership for 45 minutes to an hour and the customers didnt intend on buying a car, to buy one. i wasnt like the other salesman who were bougie and judgmental..i had alot of young buyers because i was the youngest salesman and the older guys didnt talk to young guys and girls because supposely we are portrayed as tire kickers and our parents have to buy us cars instead of ourselves..i was the top seller out of salesman my age and overall in the top 5 salesman. i became tired of the long hours and 7 day work weeks so i decided to leave car business. i have seen several others who were successful in car business to leave and start another career. they just like i was not looking to make it a long term career, despite the fact that some days i did leave with hundreds of dollars in cash money for a car or two sold the same day. im just not the type of person to not have balance work and personal life. when you sell cars you are committing most of your life to it whether you are single or married with kids. you will make alot of sacrifices in that business if you want to be successful including family.

Good read my dude I am thinking about getting into medical sales. I wanted some inside on some selling ideas. How much of selling do you think is psychological (meaning knowing people)? How much of it plays on technique or ideas? Any other tips would be great.

06-19-2012, 10:07 AM

away - #11

husky meat53$4,450 |r POWERFUL

I was a car dealer for 3 months at a Chrysler dealership... I would never do that sh*t again... fu*k you autoland

06-19-2012, 03:04 PM

away - #12

DwRecKeR77053$1,513 |r 2221520

Originally Posted by egotistical

Good read my dude I am thinking about getting into medical sales. I wanted some inside on some selling ideas. How much of selling do you think is psychological (meaning knowing people)? How much of it plays on technique or ideas? Any other tips would be great.

personally, at least half of your selling is psychological..with medical sales, i think you would need to know your market as soon as you start lol...since its more of a b2b approach, you would need to study your competitors and find a niche that would separate you from them, when you are presenting to a doctor, office manager, or whoever the decision maker is. they will give you proper training that is effective, unlike car sales. i know a guy who's in pharmaceutical sales and its very lucrative for him. according to him, they start you off with a decent salary ($40-$50k) plus your commissions can be about 10%-20% of your salary, depending on the company. quarterly and annual bonuses can be as high as half of your salary. i know for a fact he makes over $100k.